


The Recon Job

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: fiftysomething [30]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Family, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-06
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-20 01:59:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2410808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“If he touches her,” Hotch replied. “I’ll cut off his fingers.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Recon Job

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote the first in this series on a whim two years ago having no clue how people would react. It’s been quite an interesting ride. Hotch and Prentiss are growing old gracefully and having many adventures along the way.

“OK,” Bree walked back into her father’s study. “Let's test outfit #3. What’s gonna be wrong with…hey Uncle Dave.”

“Hi sweetie.” Dave sat on the couch smiling at Bree. “You look so pretty. Today’s the big day, huh?”

“Not if my dad never lets me out of the house.” She looked at Hotch. “What do you think?”

Bree was wearing a purple sundress that brought out the purple streaks in her raven hair. The dress tied around the neck and almost brushed her knees. She wore white flip-flops and looked fresh, young, and ready for fun. Dave remembered days on Long Island chasing all the pretty girls like her. No wonder her father didn’t want to let her out of the house.

“I think if you get your sweater then you’re good.”

“Dad, its July.” Bree reasoned.

“It'll be cold in the theatre.”

“Fine, I’ll get my sweater. Can I go now?”

“What if he tries to touch you someplace you don’t want to be touched?” Hotch asked. “What are you going to do?”

“I'm gonna say no.”

“And if he doesn’t stop?”

“I’ll punch his lights out.” Bree replied.

“Good girl.” Her father smiled. He stood up. “OK, I think you’re ready to go.”

“I'm gonna have to walk to the train fast.” Bree was talking and walking at the same time. “I don’t want to be late.”

“I'm sure he’ll wait.” Hotch said, following her out. Dave followed him wearing an amused look on his face.

“Daddy, you're incorrigible.” Bree said, hugging Hotch and giving him a kiss. “I love you anyway.”

“I love you too, baby. Be careful and if you need anything, just call.”

She nodded, going to walk out the security screen door. Her grandmother walked up at the same time and Bree let her in.

“Hey Natty!”

“I'm so glad I caught you.” Nat hugged her and kissed her forehead. “Oh you look so pretty; Kamal will be knocked out.”

“That’s what I'm hoping.” Bree said.

“Have a great time. Call me tonight and tell me all about it.”

“I promise I will. I gotta go; bye Daddy.”

Hotch held up his hand in a miserable wave as she walked out of the door. She was just 13 and he was letting her out of his sight with some boy. He’d met the boy, and his parents. They were good people, had obviously raised Kamal with decent values and beliefs. But he was still a fifteen year old boy taking his precious daughter into a darkened theater. The worse part wasn’t the lust Kamal might have in his heart and surely his hands; it was that Bree might like it. That’s what scared him to death and kept him up at night.

“Where’s Emily?” Nat asked, bringing Hotch out of nightmare scenario #487,291.

“She had to go to Quantico this afternoon for an emergency.” Hotch replied. “She didn’t want to leave on Bree’s big day but she had to. What are you doing here, Nat? Is everything alright?”

“I'm fine. How are you Aaron? Hello, David.”

“Hey Nat.” Dave gave her a hug and a kiss. “You're more beautiful everyday. You must have to carry around a stick to keep those men at bay.”

“I have a Taser gun.” She replied, smiling. “And I'm here to pick up the Two Musketeers for an afternoon of adventure and an evening of Grandpa Tug’s war stories.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you were taking them. Dylan, Isabel,” Hotch called up the stairs. “Natty’s here!”

The two came running down stairs like a herd of buffalo, with Dylan’s bulldog in tow. They jumped into Natalie’s arms and she covered them in kisses.

“I guess I'm on dog duty tonight.” Hotch said.

“Yeah Dad, we’re staying at Natty and Grandpa Tug’s.” Dylan replied.

“We’re gonna try to stay up for all six _Thin Man_ movies.” Isabel added.

“You spoil them.” Hotch looked at his mother-in-law wearing a smile.

“They're my grandchildren; that’s my job. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye Nat. Hey, do you guys have everything you need?”

Dylan pointed to their backpacks and nodded. Hotch gave them the thumbs up and told them to have a great time. He had no doubt they would. He might have a quiet night too. With Lex at Penelope’s for the weekend with CeCe and Jack off to the Gulf Coast on his Habitat for Humanity trip it would only be Bree home with her parents tonight. A little alone time with Emily was right up his alley. The only person he was alone with right now was Dave.

“Lets go get some lunch.” Rossi suggested.

“Make it takeout. I have somewhere I need to be.”

“Where are you…we’re really gonna do this?”

“Of course we’re gonna do it. That’s my little girl out there, Dave. Just imagine when Stella and Meghan start dating. And she’s only thirteen. She's not supposed to be dating until she’s fifteen. I gave in, yes, I caved. But I can keep an eye on her to make up for it.”

“It’s been a while since I've done a recon mission.” Dave replied. “Let’s do it.”

“I have to leave a note for Emily and make sure the dog’s fed. C'mon, Jake.”

He followed Hotch and Rossi into the kitchen. After Hotch filled the bowl with kibble and made sure he had water, he scribbled a note for his wife on the refrigerator pad. ‘ _At lunch with D.R. Call me when you get in. Love you, A.H._ ’. Rossi looked at it and smirked.

“It amuses me that you still do that.” he said.

“I don’t want anyone…”

“I know. A serial killer could break into your house and…yeah, I know.”

“Some habits are really hard to break.” Hotch replied. “My wife and kids deal with my quirks.”

“Someone has to. I'm thinking seafood; is seafood good?”

Hotch nodded and grabbed his house keys. They were heading to Spring Valley.

***

The whole car smelled like seafood. Hotch and Rossi stopped at Mama June’s before they went on their mission. Rossi got the pound of grilled barbecue shrimp with corn and hushpuppies. Hotch got the fish and grits with hushpuppies. Doing a recon job wasn’t easy on an empty stomach so they sat in the SUV outside of the main auditorium of American University eating like men going to the death chamber.

“Damn, no wonder my wife won't let me eat this stuff.” Hotch said, mouth half-full. “Oh my God, it’s so good.”

He and Dave switched platters, ate some more, and switched back. For a while all that was heard in the car was the sounds of pleasure that only food could produce. Jack called them foodgasms. Well Mama June’s was definitely a foodgasm.

“We’ll convince our wives to take us there as a treat.” Dave replied. “You know, act as if we’ve never been and only heard good things about it.”

“That’s a good idea. Emily knows when I'm lying though.”

“Lie is such a strong word. I’ll do the fibbing and you do the nodding.”

“That’s a good plan.” Hotch grinned. “These hushpuppies are amazing. Mmm, I'm in love.”

“Speaking of in love, you think Bree might really have a thing for this young man.”

“I don’t even want to think about it. Did you see her face, Dave? She already has those stars in her eyes. She can't even mention his name without that glazed look of affection on her face. I hate him.”

“You told me he was nice.” Dave said.

“He is…I guess. But he’s a boy. He’s 15 years old and she’s barely fourteen and they’re out on a date and she’s surely showing too much skin. I'm sure she’s kissed before and hugged and other things I refuse to think about because it scares me to death. But when you're in love, Dave…it’s easier to convince someone to get sexual when love is a factor.”

“Bree is a really smart girl; she's too much like her mother to fall for some crap.”

“Well that’s kinda scary too.”

“Why?” Dave asked, popping the last hushpuppy into his mouth. He was really going to miss them.

“Emily was brilliant at Bree’s age, but also quite deceptive. She was able to wear so many masks and engage in things her parents didn’t even imagine because she wore the right face when they were around.”

“But you're forgetting the most important thing. You and Emily raise your children in an environment where they don’t need to be deceptive. Yeah, every kid has their own secrets…its par for the course. But I definitely don’t see your kids, or mine for that matter, needing to have entire secret lives.”

“If he touches her,” Hotch replied. “I’ll cut off his fingers.”

“I’ll hold him down.” Dave said. “I promise. Morgan’ll want a piece of that action too. He’s The Godfather.”

“He can have the toes.”

“That’s fair. How long is the movie?”

“What time is it?” Hotch asked.

“2:10.” Dave looked at the clock on the dashboard.

“It should be over, credits and all, by about quarter to three. She said they were going to get a bite to eat afterwards. I just want to see her, make sure she’s OK…”

“Check where his hands are in relation to her body parts?” 

“Exactly.” Hotch nodded. “I should've made her change again.”

“Was that really outfit #3, Aaron?”

“She had these itty bitty shorts on. I mean it’s ridiculous that a young girl can't find a real pair of shorts these days. I wasn’t letting her go out with him in those. And outfit #2, I didn’t like the tank top. The straps were too thin and the collar too low; it was unacceptable.”

“Not that I'm looking very hard,” Dave said. “But Bree hasn’t quite developed in that area yet.”

“Thank God. I just…”

He was interrupted by the buzzing of his iPhone on his hip. Hotch picked it up, saw it was Agent Prentiss, and smiled.

“Hello.”

“Hello, my darling.” Emily said in a friendly tone.

“What’s up?” Hotch asked.

“Where are you?”

“Didn’t you get my note?”

“Mmm hmm, it said lunch with D.R. I'm curious to know just how close this lunch is in proximity to the campus of American University.” Emily said.

“I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Busted.” Rossi replied, not caring about the dirty look Hotch gave him.

“You want to know the worse part of this?” Emily asked.

“Um…”

“You're off playing Stakeout and I'm home alone. Not a child to speak of for the entire afternoon. I think you should be here Deputy Director Hotchner…I think you should be here without your clothes.”

“Dave is with me.” Hotch replied, not knowing what else to say.

“Have him drop you off. I have something really special in the drawer, Aaron. It’s such a hot day; a cool bath would be great right now.”

“I like baths.”

Rossi grinned. His friend was easily distracted these days. That was probably a good thing. If anyone deserved a distraction, it was Aaron Hotchner.

“You love baths.” Emily said. “So stop watching Bree, who’s gonna be fine by the way, and come home to me.”

“I'm on my way.”

“I love you.”

“I love you more, Emily.” Hotch hung up the phone and looked at Dave. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything.” Dave held up his hands. “I'm sure whatever’s waiting for you at home beats sitting in an SUV tailing your daughter by a mile.”

“Is she gonna be OK, Dave?”

“Of course she is. She’s smart and she’s tough. I'm sure Kamal will be a perfect gentleman but if he somehow gets it in his mind not to be, I think Bree can kick his ass.”

“Morgan did teach her some good defensive moves.” Hotch nodded.

“I'm taking you home.” Dave turned the key in the ignition, starting the car. He handed Hotch his empty platter. Hotch put them both in the plastic bag by his feet.

“Emily will smell something illicit on me.”

“I'm thinking butter, even a lot of it, is better than some things.” Dave replied.

“That’s true…do you have any breath mints or something?”

“Check the glove compartment.”

Dave pulled out of their parking space and headed back to Glover Park.

***


End file.
